Forget Me Not
by Jane O'Callaghan
Summary: Link returns home after the events of Phantom Hourglass and finds that even the one thing he thought would never change is not immune to the harsh workings of time. A oneshot written for my grandmother.


**I've had this idea for a while now, but couldn't quite bring myself to write it until now (I'm even having second thoughts about posting this, but I already wrote it, so...). My grandmother passed away a couple of years ago from Alzheimer's disease, and this oneshot is in memory of her. It's a bit sad, so don't read if you were expecting something else (you know, something not sad, which is what I typically write). I intended to post this on her birthday which was this month, but I missed it (took longer to write than I thought it would). If anyone is wondering, the picture is of the forget-me-not flower (some flowers have really crazy names, almost as crazy as the ships in the Halo series...In Amber Clad? What is that? A description? Why am I even talking about Halo? This is a Zelda fic!). **

**This is meant to take place sometime after the events of Phantom Hourglass, so there are some minor spoilers for that and possibly Wind Waker, so if you haven't played either game read with some caution, please!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I _still_ don't own Zelda, and I'm _still_ not making any money off of writing fanfiction for it. Bummer.**

* * *

Forget Me Not

Link was in a good mood. A few months had gone by since his and Tetra's latest adventure, and despite Tetra's crew's insistence that they had only been away for a couple of minutes, Link knew that the events that occurred after they attempted to board the mysterious Ghost Ship had really happened. So, instead of trying to argue this fact with the others like Tetra did every time it was brought up, Link would just laugh and shrug his shoulders. Now, here he was, safe and sound in his own world. Not only that, but he also had just received a letter from home. The words "To Link; Tetra's Pirate Ship" were scrawled along the envelope in the childish penmanship that only his sister was capable of.

Peeling open the envelope, he reached inside and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. A faint but familiar scent of his childhood home assailed his nostrils, reminding him of just how long he had been away from home.

"Dear Big Brother," the letter began. "Please come home as soon as you can. I don't want to worry you, but I think Grandma might be sick."

Worry replaced any contentment that Link had had, and he quickly rushed to his own boat. The King of Red Lions, while no longer able to communicate with him, was still floating proudly alongside the larger pirate ship. Fumbling with the ropes, Link quickly set to work on separating his own boat from Tetra's.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tetra's demanding voice reached his ears. Her expression of annoyance at Link quickly turned to worry as he explained his letter. "Well don't use that old thing," Tetra said, trying to cover her concern with her usual tone of nonchalance. "It'll probably end up sinking or something, and then we'll just have to fish you out. Besides, you know my ship's faster."

"You don't mind going all the way back?" Link asked in surprise.

Tetra shook her head. "Any excuse to go back and snag more of your granny's soup!"

Link grinned as she turned sharply on her heel and started to march about her deck, shouting orders to her crew. The older men leaped to their duties, afraid of being accused of slacking off by the teenaged girl.

They reached Outset Island just before nightfall. Link walked the short way to his house and was soon standing right outside the door. He hesitated, though he couldn't explain to himself why. He hadn't hesitated when he had rushed off to fight Ganondorf, or when he had tried to join Tetra after she had leaped aboard the Ghost Ship on her own, or during a myriad of other tasks. So why now?

Before he could puzzle it out, the door swung open. Aryll stood on the other side, her eyes sparkling with happiness at seeing her brother.

"Big Brother! You came back!"

"I just got your letter," Link replied as his sister pulled him inside the comfortably lit room. "How's Grandma?"

Aryll shrugged. "Hard to say, really. I'm not sure what's wrong with her, but somedays she acts like she doesn't even know where she is. It's weird! I thought it was a game at first, but now I'm not too sure... sometimes she doesn't eat anything."

Link spotted his grandmother sitting in her chair near the fire. Her hair was slightly more disheveled than usual and she looked thinner, but her fingers were flying confidently over a quilt that she was mending up. Her usual smile was on her face, her eyes closed as she hummed a tune under her breath.

"Hi, Grandma," Link said cheerfully as he knelt next to her.

His grandmother opened her eyes and peered uncertainly at him, her smile dropping slightly the longer she looked at him. There was no recognition in her eyes, which terrified Link more than anything else; he had been through a lot of scary situations, too. The needle in her hand slipped but she managed to catch it before it fell to the ground. Distracted by this she seemed to completely forget that Link was right there, and she quickly returned to patching up the giant hole in the blanket.

"It's the only thing that keeps her happy," Aryll whispered from behind Link. "Mending things. So I rip holes in blankets and stuff so that she always has something to sew up."

Link reached out a hand and gently placed it on his grandmother's knee. He was about to try and greet her again when Tetra suddenly burst inside.

"Those lousy idiots can't even anchor the ship right!" she complained as she stormed inside. "Hey there, Granny, how's it going? Got any soup?"

"She's not quite herself," Link said, worry thick in his voice.

Tetra gave a short hum under her breath as she joined Link on the floor and peered into the older woman's face. "Hey, Granny, hello?" Tetra stretched out the word hello as she waved her hand in front of the grandmother's face.

Link's grandmother looked up again and studied the newcomer curiously. "Hello, dear. Have you seen my grandson? He's always playing with Aryll, those two hardly ever come indoors anymore."

"I'm right here, Grandma," Link said brightly.

His grandmother burst into laughter. "You're too old, silly! Link's barely six! Look, he took a lovely picture of some flowers for me today..." the woman drifted off as she began to rummage around in her pockets. "Where'd I put that thing?"

Link's shoulders slumped. "That was years ago, Grandma."

His grandmother glared at him. "I'm not your grandmother! I don't even know who you are! ...Oh, look at this, there's a hole in this blanket. Good thing I've got my needle here!"

Tetra stood up and surveyed the house. "Is there some sort of spell going on here or something?"

Aryll shook her head. "Not that I know of. Nothing evil has happened, there hasn't even been one single storm!"

Tetra looked back to Link, who was still just sitting there and staring at his guardian with unshed tears in his eyes. "Well I'll tell you what she needs!" Tetra said, trying to keep her voice confident. "Soup!"

"I've tried that," Aryll began. "But I keep messing up the recipe."

"That's because you didn't have me." Tetra stood and rubbed her hands together eagerly. "Stand back, I know how to do this!"

Link finally looked up as Tetra marched towards the stove. "You? Cook?"

"Shut up, Link. I can handle it."

"Oh no you don't!" Link jumped up and joined her as she began to pull out random ingredients from the pantry. "You'll blow up the whole house! I'm going to help."

"I'll peel the potatoes!" Aryll offered, joining the pair.

Tetra paused from sharpening one of the knives. "There's potatoes in that stuff?"

Link rubbed his face with a hand. "Oh my goodness... yes, there's potatoes in it. It's one of the main ingredients."

"Huh." Tetra shrugged and then returned to her sharpening.

Link and Aryll's grandmother ignored them, choosing to focus on her sewing instead of the strange people that were cooking something that smelled like a cross between bread and the stuff the neighbors used to feed their pigs.

* * *

"Done!" all three shouted at once. They stepped back and surveyed their work. The soup, which was an odd greenish-yellow color, bubbled ominously in the large pot.

"So..." Tetra began. "Who wants to be the taste tester?"

"Not it!" both Link and Aryll quickly answered.

"Dang it," Tetra muttered. She cautiously approached the pot with a spoon, glaring at Aryll when she began to snicker. Even Link couldn't hold back his laughter after she placed the thick liquid in her mouth and he saw her horrified expression.

"Oh yuck, that is disgusting!" Tetra shouted over Link and Aryll's laughter.

"What is going on?" Link's grandmother interrupted the trio. "Why are you using my kitchen?"

"Oh, well," Link began.

"We thought we'd make you something," Aryll finished for him.

The elderly woman crossed her arms and glared at them for a few seconds before smiling. "You know I can't stay angry when I hear your laughter. Link, Aryll, clean up this mess. Tetra, you help, too."

"Yes, ma'am!" Tetra quickly said before frowning at her own choice of the word ma'am. Since when did she ever call anyone ma'am? Finally shrugging, she joined her friend and his sister as they set to work on getting rid of their mess, smiles on both of the siblings' faces.

"Now then, let me show you how it's done!" Link and Aryll's grandmother said after they finished. "And you," she paused long enough to point towards Link. Link felt worry creeping into him again; had she forgotten who he was again? "I told you before, don't do anything reckless. That includes trying to kill us all with your cooking."

"Hey!" Link protested lightheartedly, relieved that she was back with them. "It wasn't just me!"

His grandmother set Tetra to work on peeling more potatoes and then pulled both Link and Aryll into a tight hug. "Sometimes I'm not quite sure where I am. But I could never forget you two for too long. You're too noisy for that to happen."

Feeling some of his concern for her fade away, Link returned the hug. "We'll never forget you either, Grandma."

* * *

Forget me not today,

Though I am far away,

Just let my memory stay

Safe in your heart.

-part of the lyrics to Vera Lynn's "Forget Me Not"

* * *

**Thank you very much for reading, I really appreciate it. **

**If there is anyone reading this who knows someone with Alzheimer's, or has Alzheimer's, or even some other disease or illness, I wish the best to you and your entire family. **


End file.
